Thank you once again for your support of Team Young Medalists!  If you haven't been following along on Facebook, here's a quick recap of the past week.

Saturday - bright and early, 6 riders and their parents packed up the SUV and rental car with luggage, bikes, gear and food for the 10 hour trip to Val D'Or.  They stopped overnight in Ottawa for an easy ride to stretch their legs.

Sunday - arrival in Val d'Or and unloading and setting up their room.

Monday - recon ride around Val d'Or where most of the stages finish, several with circuits within the town limits.  The team presentation (we are last, thanks to our name!) occurs during a deluge, and the team sprint competition is cancelled.  Thankfully, it's the only rainy day.  25 teams with 144 riders from 8 countries, with 6 national teams (USA, Canda, Mexico, France, New Zealand and Thailand) will compete.  Each team has a minimum of 4 riders and a maximum of 6.

Tuesday - nerves are high for the first stage, but our boys avoid the crashes, and our top riders are awarded same time as the winner. Team YM is tied for 1st in the Team GC and placed 10th, based on the riders' finishes.  This means our support vehicle with our coach, mechanic and soigneur is 10th in the convoy following the riders on each stage.

Wednesday - Stage 2 is the longest stage. At 138 km, it is just under the maximum allowed by UCI for a junior race.  Sean attacks and is in 4th heading into the final meters, but fades to 13th -- this will be our best finish of the tour.  The peloton splits in half, and the remainder of the team finishes 10 seconds behind the winner.

Thursday - The time trial is arranged in waves, with one rider from each team per wave to allow a team car to trail in case a mechanical occurs.  Coach advises the boys who are not in GC contention to take it easy as there is no time cut.  Sean finishs 24, William finishes 30, both on TT bikes.  Nathan, on his road bike, finishes 54.   That afternoon the race moves to Malarctic for Stage 4, the shortest road stage at 53 km.  Again, the boys finish with the peloton and are awarded same time.  At this point, our GC standings are Sean - 19, William - 29, Nathan - 44, Joe - 64, Billy - 93 and Connor - 100.  Of the 144 riders who started, 132 remain, the rest either failing to finish due to injury, or missing the 20% time cut for each stage.  The team's GC position has improved to 9th.

Friday - Stage 5 - fatigue is beginning to set in. Two crashes impact our riders, but all finish within the time cut.  Nathan and Billy both receive medical attention after the stage.

Saturday - Stage 6 is a 10 km circuit race.  Circuit races can be mentally tough as you see the same course features over and over again. Billy abandons about 1/3 into the race due to cramping and pain from injuries sustained the previous day.  Sean attacks on the final lap, but crosses the finish line with Joe and William, with Nathan and Connor right behind.  All five receive the same time as the winner. 

Sunday - the last stage.  So far, Team YM has not contested any of the intermediate sprints or KOM.  Sean times his attack well, and wins a sprint, earning a time bonus that moves him up in the GC.  Our five finish safely with the peloton.  The field has dwindled to 107.

Final results:

Sean - 16th in the GC, 1:09 behind

William - 24th, 1:31 behind

Joe - 46th, 2:53 behind

Nathan - 88th, 24:30 behind

Connor - 96th, 32:27 behind.

Team YM is 8th, 4:03 behind the firs place USA National team, and is the top regional club team from the USA!

Sean and William finish as the top Americans behind 4 USA National team members who finished 1,2,3 and 6.

In a race that is predominately 18 year olds, the 17 year olds have their own competition - 65 of the 144 were 17.  William finishes 7th in the young rider competition, the second best American.

If you made it this far and want more, head over to Facebook to the team's group page for videos, photos and race recaps from Coach Colin  https://www.facebook.com/groups/62145370609

Thanks again for your support of our warriors!

Lehigh Valley Cycling Club

Last week the team met at Rodale Fitness Park for a 90 mile mid-week ride.  This week is the highest mileage week for the team before Canada.  They will ride from the Fitness Park in Trexlertown down to Philadelphia, stay overnight and ride back.  Both days will be capped off with a race-simulation ride.  Thanks for your support of Young Medalists and our guest riders!

Hard to believe we are just over a month away from leaving for Canada!  This week, Team YM begins a series of weekly training rides with Coach Colin to build the endurance needed to race 7 stages.